So happy to share my postdoctoral work with you. It is about a favorite model organism, fruit fly, and about a challenging pursuit, studying emotion in animals.

I’m excited to share our new @Nature paper 📝, which provides strong evidence that the walkability of our built environment matters a great deal to our physical activity and health. Details in thread.🧵 https://t.co/omO3YcHrvG

Giant study finds a research field that’s mostly reproducible. That the majority of findings look verifiable speaks to the power of the scientific method, excellence of peer review and the integrity of researchers worldwide. Something we know all along.

🧬Happy Transposon Day! 🎉Each year on the 16th of June we commemorate the birthdate of the founder of transposable element research, Barbara McClintock (1902-1992). Check out quotes from editors and popular content on our #TransposonDay2025 page 👉 https://t.co/Z6BVlGq00J

Join the #VosshallLab as a postdoctoral scientist! Fully funded position in New York City @RockefellerUniv https://t.co/XfhsO4j5h0

I’m thrilled to join @auburnhort @AuburnAg in August 2025 as Assistant Professor of Ornamental Horticulture, focusing on ornamental crop production! Excited to collaborate with Alabama’s nursery & greenhouse communities and mentor the next generation of horticulturists to help

Congratulations to the 2025 #LeonLevyScholars!🎉 Announcing the 2025 #LeonLevyScholars, in partnership with the Leon Levy Foundation. Recipients participate in a multi-year postdoctoral program to advance their careers. Read more about the Scholars: https://t.co/6bZFpZPHKA

My TEDx talk just came out! “How flies can help us build better robots and AI” https://t.co/uG3LTeTqui Thanks again to the fantastic organizers @TEDxArendal Special thanks to the people in my laboratory at EPFL past and present without whom none of this would be possible

congrats, Dion!

Insightful analysis

https://t.co/G5AYZw9OA2

Being a new PI taught me that having a good food operation is one of the most important assets of a fly lab. Therefore, I want to share DeepCook, a culture-inspired method for fly food making. See my website for a detailed protocol. #Drosophila https://t.co/G5AYZw9OA2

Magically, at the end of the cooking, I just added water and some dish soap and pressed the self-clean button to get a thorough wash! I have been a “flyologist” for almost two decades. Every fly cook who has supported me is a saint. ❤️ 🫶

The “keep it warm” function also makes adding other ingredients easy, for example, adding retinal to the special food for optogenetics experiments. I imagine that we can also prepare a variety of diets (high fat, high protein, fruit-containing, etc) with this simple machine.

I then added the molasses and blend/boil for 10min. After that, the “keep it warm” button can keep the mixture at around 60C, perfect time to add propionic acid and Tegosept. Since it was kept warm, I took my time to fill in bottles without worrying about the solidified agar.

I have tested a simple recipe of the standard molasses food - I simply poured in the dry ingredients and used the “soy milk” or “chowder” program, which brings the mixture to a boil for 20-30min with intermittent powerful blending (all automatic).

I discovered during the holidays that the soy milk machine has improved dramatically - it combines a powerful food blender, programmed boiling/blending routines, a self-cleaning function, and even a “keep it warm” program, making it my dream equipment to make fly food.🧑‍🍳🪰🍔

The invention of the soy milk machine (~2010) truly represents the Chinese’s two-thousand-year pursuit of this comfort food, protein source, and dedication to healthy cuisine. However, one still needed to filter the particulate and wash the burned soybean residues.

Although the taste and consistency of manufactured soy milk can consistently resemble that of dairy milk, the Chinese still prefer freshly made soy milk. Every Chinese’s memory of our home country is waiting in a queue at a breakfast stand to purchase a large scoop of soy milk.

Liu An (179-122 BCE), the Prince of Huainan Princedom of the Western Han dynasty was known for filial piety when he brought his sick mother back to health by serving her soy milk. Industrial production popularized soy milk in the late 20th century.

Soy milk is a stable emulsion of oil, water, and protein. Making soy milk is tedious. The procedure includes soaking and grinding soybeans, boiling the mixture, and filtering out the remaining particulates. The nutritious drink originated in China nearly 2K years ago by Liu An.